


Leave it to Serendipity

by Little_oblivion



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Happy Holligays, Meet-Cute, Romance, They're cute and gay and adorable, Window Washer Tobin, doctor christen, holiday au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28011513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_oblivion/pseuds/Little_oblivion
Summary: Dr. Christen Press isn't exactly excited about spending Christmas alone for the first time, but fate has a funny way of stepping in when you least expect it
Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press
Comments: 20
Kudos: 273
Collections: Preathfics Winter 2020 Collection





	Leave it to Serendipity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lesbianrobinhood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianrobinhood/gifts).



> Hi everybody!!!
> 
> Here is my contribution for the PreathFics winter collection, I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> This is for memoized, I hope this lives up to my hype lol.
> 
> But mainly this is for lesbianrobinhood:  
>  Merry Christmas, darling <3

Christmas had always been Christen Press’s favorite time of the year. Maybe it was the emphasis on spending time with family, maybe it was how in the seeming blink of an eye cheerful yuletide classics were suddenly being piped from every sound system, or maybe it was just the month long excuse to binge on peppermint and gingerbread flavored goodies.

Whatever it was, it had never failed to disappoint.

Well… normally anyway.

She was in no way a stranger to long working hours. Her years at Stanford had involved balancing a challenging pre med course load along with playing D1 soccer and keeping up a rigorous social life. Then she’d been accepted into Johns Hopkins medical school, where she ate, slept, and breathed her classes, feeling like she didn’t know where she stopped and her textbooks began. Her roommates had even teased her on multiple occasions saying that she could recite diagnostic lists in her sleep.

But she hadn’t minded the long hours or the stress, and it had all paid off. Her hard wokr had culminated in her landing a prestigious residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She got to spend every day helping kids beat serious, deadly diseases, helping them return to normal lives of homework and ballet lessons. She loved it, and she couldn’t imagine spending her life doing anything else.

The one downside was that Philadelphia, while breathtaking during the holiday season, was across the country from all of her family. Last year she had sweet talked her dad and sisters into coming to stay with her, promising them a true white Christmas. She thought everyone had ended up having a great time, even if she had spent the majority of their visit at the hospital. This year, however, Channing was going on a yoga retreat up in Canada, Tyler was spending the holiday with her girlfriend’s family up in Vermont, and her dad had decided to host his sister’s family at their house. She was happy for all of them, but it didn’t stop her from feeling lonely. After all, was it really the most wonderful time of the year if you didn’t have anyone to share it with?

She was trying not to dwell on it; after all, she had a job that she loved, she had her health, she had a wonderful group of coworkers that she hoped would grow into friends, and she had her dogs. There were people in the world that would give anything to be as lucky as her. And with modern technology, she could still see her family, even if it wasn’t in person!

(Still, the idea of spending Christmas alone made her stomach ache.)

She solved this by doing, what else, throwing herself into work.

She strode into the central playroom, white coat fanning out behind her as she examined the patient file in her hand. Her eyes scanned the numbers, taking in red blood cell counts and hemoglobin levels. When she finally lifted her head, she was prepared to seek out one of their younger patients, Tierna, and take her for a test.

Instead, she found herself face to face with Batman, flying outside the ninth floor window.

She let out a truly blood curdling shriek, the file in her hands being thrown up in the air as she jumped. It took several moments before her eyes and her brain could come together and explain what she was seeing.

Batman was not, in fact, floating outside, but standing on a window washer’s platform. Indeed, as her heart rate slowed, she could see the squeegee in his hand, the bucket at his feet.

Batman was just a window washer.

She looked down to find herself surrounded by a crowd of excited kids.

“Dr. Press, you were so scared!” Mallory giggled.

“You jumped like, ten feet in the air!” Devin added.

“I must have looked pretty silly, huh?” she asked, beginning to laugh at herself as the ridiculousness of the situation hit her.

“So silly!” the kids agreed.

“Batman really got me!” Christen raised an eyebrow at the window washer, who she could tell was watching her through the opening in his mask. She got nothing back other than an apologetic shrug. She shook her finger at him good naturedly. “Very funny,” she mouthed.

She turned and spotted Tierna at the art table along the wall. “There you are T! You and I have a very exciting date with a dialysis machine.”

The young girl gave Christen her best puppy dog eyes. “But I just started my painting.”

She crouched beside her. “Tell you what, you can tell me all about what you want to paint while I wheel you down, and you can finish up when you’re done, okay?”

The girl nodded, and Christen helped her into the waiting wheelchair. As she began to wheel her out, she caught a glimpse of Batman giving her a cheery wave. She laughed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she started down the hallway.

* * *

She was almost embarrassed when she walked in the next day and was once again scared by an apparition outside the playroom window. She managed not to let out another screech when she rounded the corner to see Mario from Super Mario Bros, but just barely.

The kids, who somehow had known that she was coming, all erupted in delighted shrieks of laughter when she jumped and clutched the notepad in her hands to her chest.

“Got you again!” Slade yelled.

“They did,” she admitted with a laugh. She walked closer to the window and watched as the person inside the foam head held up a finger before digging a piece of paper out of their waistband and smoothing it against the window.

“Sorry,” the note read, with a sad face drawn underneath. She couldn’t help but let out a huffy laugh.

She pulled a pen out of her coat pocket and grabbed a piece of construction paper off of a nearby table, flipping it over and carefully writing out her message before holding it up for Batman/Mario to read.

“Better watch out, or I’ll hit you with a blue shell.”

She watched as he read it, then threw his head back with a laugh. Then he held out his hands as if to say _fair enough._

Christen waved to him, then turned back to her work, feeling proud of herself for her gaming reference.

* * *

“Any big plans for tonight, Dr. Press?” Ali asked as Christen began writing up her daily reports.

“Oh yeah! I have a super hot date tonight.”

This got the attention of not only Ali, but Kelley and Crystal too, both of whom were stopping by for consults.

“A hot date? Girl, say less,” Crystal laughed.

“No, say more! Give us all the details,” Ali demanded.

“Well I’m going to go home and break open a bottle of red, run a nice hot bath. And then if I play my cards right I’ll spend the night cuddled up with two beautiful girls.”

“Two?” Kelley asked, partially scandalized, partially jealous.

“Mm hm,” Christen continued, barely looking away from the computer screen. “I mean, between Morena’s big brown eyes and Khaleesi’s blonde hair, who could possibly choose?”

The three women were quiet for a moment, then Crystal let out a groan. “You’re talking about your stupid dogs, aren’t you?”

“Hey, don’t call them stupid! They’re very good girls!” Christen protested.

Kelley whacked her in the shoulder with a patient file. “I can’t believe I fell for that. I feel like I just got rick rolled.”

“So just the usual, then?” Ali asked with a laugh.

“Yup. Netflix with the pups.”

“You know, Ash and I probably know a cute lesbian that we could set you up with. In fact, there’s this girl she went to school with, you guys might-”

Christen sighed. “Thanks, but… I don’t know. Set ups just feel so forced, y’know? When I meet someone, I want it to be fate, a moment of serendipity.” She didn’t miss the smirks the other women shared. “Hey, our parents’ generation didn’t meet on tinder and they’re doing great!”

Ali laughed. “Speak for yourself, my parents hate each other.”

“I’m just saying, when it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen. I’m not in any rush.”

“Yes, but how will it happen when you spend all of your time with us and a bunch of cancer fighting eight year olds?” Ali laughed.

Kelley heaved a deep sigh and threw an arm around Christen’s shoulders. “Look, I know that you’re in love with me, but it’s time to give it up, Press. I’m very happily taken.”

Christen rolled her eyes. “You caught me, Kelley. I’m pining hopelessly after you.”

“It’s a curse.”

Crystal leaned across the counter. “Seriously Christen. I’m all for being fierce as fuck and independent and happy on your own, but… a girl’s gotta eat, too.”

Christen stood up from the computer. “I appreciate the concern guys, but I’m okay, really. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bottle of cabernet that is calling my name.”

* * *

She paused outside the playroom and steeled herself. _Batman/Mario won’t get the best of me today._ She took a deep breath and stepped around the corner.

Sure enough, through the window she could once again see the window washer, this time dressed as Spiderman. He spotted her come in and quickly made the web slinging motion in her direction. She rolled her eyes and waved, then went about her actual business of checking in on the kids who were playing.

When she was content that everyone was taken care of, she started from the room but was halted by a sharp rap on the window. She turned, arms crossed, and walked to the window with a smile. “I do have work to do, you know,” she quipped, not even sure that the window washer could hear her.

He held up a finger, then retrieved yet another piece of paper. He glanced at it, then held it up for her to see.

“I really am sorry that I scared you,” she read.

She waved a hand as if to say that it was all okay.

He turned it over, then quickly rotated it when he realized that her side was upside down.

“Can I take you out for an apology drink?”

_Pretty slick for someone who I can’t even actually have a conversation with._

She had Rose bring her a piece of paper.

“Sorry, I’m gay.” She slapped it against the window, and watched as the window washer seemingly went through the five stages of grief. Finally, he bent forward, hands on his knees in what seemed to be a full belly laugh. He gave Christen a thumbs up, and she gave one back. She slid her pen back into her coat pocket and swept from the room with a sigh.

She supposed it’s only considered a meet cute if you’re both attracted to each other.

* * *

On day four, she was completely prepared to round the corner and see the window washer in whatever costume he had chosen.

Except it turned out that she absolutely wasn’t.

Because today, Batman/Mario/Spiderman was dressed up as an elf.

And so Christen finally the window washer unmasked, and was hit with the sudden realization that it was not a he.

It was a she.

And not only was it a she, it was perhaps the hottest she that Christen had ever seen.

She knew that her mouth was literally hanging open, but she couldn’t help it as her eyes swept over the woman’s tan skin, her chiseled jawline and her wide smile that was making her eyes crinkle up underneath her elf hat. Christen could only imagine that it was freezing cold on the window washing platform, but she was only in a pair of overalls and a very tight, striped shirt that let Christen admire the cut of her arms.

The woman crossed said arms and gave Christen a smirk.

She quickly strode over to the window, lifting her arms up in a questioning motion.

The woman copied it back, and Christen rolled her eyes, once again grabbing a piece of paper.

“You’re a woman?!”

The woman laughed and nodded.

“And you didn’t think to mention that?”

She shrugged, the picture of nonchalance, then flicked the bell on her hat.

The stupid action made Christen giggle, and then she took a deep breath as she scrawled one last message.

“I’m off at 6. Meet me at the diner across the street?” She received a thumbs up.

She straightened her coat, giving the outlandishly hot woman a curt nod before awkwardly retreating from the room, unable to remember why she had needed to enter in the first place.

* * *

She bustled into the diner, already cold just from her walk across the street. A waitress looked up from behind the counter. “Hiya Dr. Press. You want soup to go? We have broccoli cheddar today-”

Christen smiled. “Um actually, I’m meeting someone today.” She glanced around, quickly spying the window washer in the last booth next to the window. She gestured towards her and the waitress nodded, turning back to the coffee pot.

She slowly walked over, her hands fiddling with her scarf as she got nearer.

She was no longer dressed as an elf, but was wearing a leather jacket over a supreme sweatshirt. She smiled and stood up when Christen paused next to the booth.

“Hey.” Her voice was kind of hoarse and scratchy, but in a way that seemed to fill Christen with warmth.

“What happened to your costume?”

“Oh.” She looked down, then back up at Christen. “Is that a deal breaker? Do you want me to put it back on?”

Christen laughed. “No! No, that’s okay. Um, but I would love to know your name.”

“Right! Right, hi I’m Tobin.”

“Tobin,” Christen repeated, shaking her hand then sitting down. “It’s very nice to meet you, Tobin. I’m Christen Press.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

The waitress walked up. “Can I start you ladies off with something to drink?”

“Water,” Christen said, at the exact same time that Tobin answered, “Hot chocolate.”

“Right, coming up.”

“So I feel like I’m at a bit of a disadvantage,” Christen said lightly, shrugging out of her oversized parka.

“Why is that?”

“Well, you know my name, you know where I work-”

“I know that you’re gay.”

Christen flushed. “Right, that too. So what do you do when you’re not scaring unsuspecting doctors?”

Tobin gave a wide grin. “I’m an artist.”

Christen raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Most people would consider my work to be a bit abstract-”

“Like Rothko?”

Tobin looked pleasantly surprised. “Yeah, actually. He’s one of my main influences along with Grace Hartigan and Sonia Gechtoff.”

“Wow,” Christen replied. “I have to admit, I don’t really know the other two, but that’s really cool.”

Now Tobin was the one blushing. “Thank you. I really love art, obviously. Studied it at UNC, then did a sit in residence with an artist in Paris.”

“That’s incredible!” Christen gushed. “Did you like UNC? I played against them while I was at Stanford.”

“Played against them?”

“Oh, yeah I played soccer.”

Tobin’s eyes took on an almost maniacal gleam. “Wait really? Me too!”

“Really? That’s, then we must have-” Christen racked her brain, trying to remember Tobin from one of the several times that the Cardinals had gone head to head with the Tar Heels.

“Yeah. How old are you?”

“I’ll be twenty seven at the end of this month.”

Tobin let out a chuckle and crossed her arms. “I’ll be twenty seven this spring.”

“No way!” That meant that they had almost surely played each other, but neither remembered.

“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be yet,” Tobin said lightly, and her wording made Christen’s stomach flip.

The waitress came back with their drinks and took their food orders, and before they knew it, they had been sitting in their booth for nearly three hours, talking and laughing. Christen somehow felt as if she had known Tobin for years. She felt familiar and comfortable, like a puzzle piece clicking into place.

Once they paid their tickets, they slowly made their way outside into the cold Philadelphia night. They stared at each other for a moment, both seeming to not want to say goodnight.

“Are you busy this weekend?” Christen blurted.

Tobin raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“I mean, would you want- if you’re not busy I thought we could-” she broke off, flustered.

Tobin just grinned widely, stuffing her hands into her pockets. “Well, seeing as this weekend is Christmas…”

“Oh. Right.” _Of course she has plans, you moron._

“But um… I know you said you don’t have family in the area, so if you _don’t_ have plans, you’re always welcome to come to our Christmas bash?”

Christen quickly shook her head. “Oh no, I couldn’t! I don’t want to intrude on you and your friends-”

“You won’t! And besides, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. You shouldn’t spend it alone.”

“Uh…” Christen took a deep breath. “If… if you’re sure?”

“Of course! Here, give me your number and I’ll text you the info.”

Once their details had been exchanged, they stood for a moment, looking at each other. “Well, I’d better head home. Early morning tomorrow,” Christen said with a slight laugh.

“Right, of course.” Tobin brushed her hair back and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Get home safe, Christen.” Then she turned with a cheery wave, whistling as she walked away from a blushing Christen, her hand coming up to press at her cheek.

* * *

The buzzer to Christen’s apartment rang at exactly seven on the dot, something she appreciated. She’d accidentally started getting ready much too early, and had been sitting on her couch completely dressed for nearly thirty minutes, too jumpy to focus on TV or her phone. She pressed the button, and checked her appearance one last time in the entryway mirror, running her hand over her curls. She spent most of her time with her hair pulled back in braids or a bun, she was surprised she even remembered how to get dolled up.

A knock on the door pulled her away from the mirror, and she pulled it open.

Tobin was dressed in ripped black jeans and a gaudy, oversized holiday sweater that had no business looking as cute as it did. She smiled at Christen then held out star shaped sugar cookie, decorated rather messily with green and red frosting. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” Christen looked down at the cookie. “Did you make this?”

“Well, Harry made it, I decorated it.”

Christen couldn’t help but laugh. “Aren’t you supposed to be a hot shot artist?” she teased.

Tobin stuck out her tongue. “Icing isn’t my normal medium.”

“Fair enough.” Christen took a bite and couldn’t help the tiny moan that made its way out of her mouth. “God, Tobin this is so good.” She opened her eyes to find Tobin staring at her with slightly widened eyes. Christen brushed at her face self-consciously. “Oh gosh, do I have frosting all over my face?” She turned to go back to the mirror, but Tobin caught her arm.

“No, you look incredible.”

Christen smiled shyly. “Thank you.”

“Well, should we head that way?”

“Right! Yes.” Christen grabbed her coat and bag, then followed Tobin out of her apartment, locking the door behind her.

“So whose house are we going to?” Christen asked as Tobin turned into a very nice neighborhood with large, beautiful houses.

“Alex’s. She lives with her husband Serv and their daughter, Charlie. God, wait till you see her, she’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I can’t wait.” Tobin pulled to a stop and parked the car, coming around to help Christen out. They walked up the decorated sidewalk and Tobin let them inside.

Tobin’s friends turned out to be just as nice as she was, each one being nothing but warm and welcoming to Christen. She found herself forgetting some of the lingering ache of being apart from her family on Christmas, instead focusing on the here and now of the party.

They’d been there for nearly an hour, and Christen was refilling her cup of spiked apple cider when she heard a commotion behind her.

“Christen?” She turned to see Ali standing behind her, a wide if slightly confused smile on her face, a woman that Christen recognized from pictures as her wife just behind her.

“Ali! Hi!” Christen gave her a hug then turned to her wife. “And you must be Ashlyn.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“What are you doing here?” Ali asked. “Or, sorry, I mean… who…”

Christen laughed at Ali trying to figure out how to most delicately frame her question. “Well, I kind of met someone earlier in the week, and when I told her that I didn’t have anyone to spend the holidays with, she invited me to tag along.”

“Oh my god, I didn’t even think to invite you!” Ali slapped a hand to her head. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Christen assured her. “And I mean it turned out fine, because here I am!”

Ashlyn spoke up. “Wait, so who-”

“Chris! There you are!” The three of them turned to see Tobin making her way through the crowded room. “I was worried you’d fallen prey to- Ash! Ali, hey!” She gave them both hugs.

“Wait, you know each other?” Christen asked.

“Wait, _this_ is who invited you tonight?” Ali lapsed into near hysterical laughter. “Oh this great!”

“What?” Christen asked.

Ali just smiled. “Do you remember when I was trying to convince you to let me set you up on a date with one of Ash’s friends? The girl she went to school with?” She gestured to Tobin. “Christen, meet Tobin, Ashlyn’s college friend from UNC. Tobin, meet Christen, the cute new pediatric resident at work.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I tried to tell you! But no, you insisted that you needed to rely on kismet or fate.” She leaned into Ashlyn with a smirk.

“Okay, okay you were right,” Christen conceded with a laugh.

Ashlyn and Tobin groaned. “Great, now we’ll never hear the end of it,” Ashlyn playfully complained, earning a nudge from her wife’s elbow. “I’m just kidding baby.”

“Well, I guess we’ll leave you two to discuss fate or whatever.” She took Ashlyn’s hand. “Oh, Christen don’t forget to tell Tobin about your hot little threesome a few weeks back.”

Christen could feel her face flush red hot as Ali led Ashlyn away, disappearing into the crowd. “I didn’t- she’s kidding,” she quickly spluttered. “It was just my dogs.”

Tobin just laughed. “Hey, no judgements here.”

“So you really went to school with Ashlyn?”

“Yeah! We only overlapped for a year, but we got along really well and stayed in contact.”

“That’s insane!”

“I don’t know how I never put it together that you would work with Ali,” Tobin said, shaking her head.

“Well, with the amount of nurses and doctors working at the hospital, what are the chances?”

They began to walk towards the living room and Tobin took Christen’s hand. “You were right about one thing, though.”

“What’s that?” Christen asked.

“Fate. Kismet. I guess if something is meant to be, it’s just meant to be.”

Christen came to a stop, and Tobin did too. “Exactly. Except the word I think I actually used was serendipity.”

Tobin grinned. “Of course it was, Stanford,” she teased. She tilted her head back then gestured above Christen’s head. She looked up to spy a sprig of mistletoe.

She slowly lowered her gaze to find Tobin staring at her, her eyes soft and deep. “Can I kiss you, Dr. Press?”

Christen pretended to think about it for a moment. “I don’t know, I was hoping that if I stuck around long enough I might run into Batman, or maybe Mario-” Then Tobin’s lips were on hers, soft and supple and strong, and the tail end of her joke was quickly forgotten.

Tobin pulled back after several long moments. “How’s that for serendipity?”

**Author's Note:**

> Let's squeal together on tumblr, shall we? @thetheatrelady


End file.
